Â£220m bank raid plot

Banks in the City are on alert today after police foiled a plot to steal more than £220 million.

Thieves were on the verge of transferring the money electronically after hacking into computers at the London offices of Japanese banking group Sumitomo.

It would have been one of the biggest ever robberies.

But detectives from the National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) were tipped off before funds could be siphoned off into 10 accounts around the world.

Financial institutions in the City have been warned by detectives of the threat posed by cyber criminals.

They used "keylogging" technology that enabled them to learn account numbers, passwords and other sensitive information.

The case highlights the growing threat organised gangs of computer hackers pose to companies and consumers. The police investigation extended as far as Israel, one of the countries to which the gang attempted to transfer money.

Israeli police yesterday arrested a man whose business account had been set up to receive some of the cash.

Officers there said there had been an attempt to transfer 20million euros, about £13.9 million, into the account "by deception in a sophisticated manner".

The man has been charged with money laundering and deception.

It is not clear whether the criminals gained physical access to Sumitomo's offices and installed keylogging hardware - which records every key stroke on a computer - or whether they hacked into the bank's computer systems installing "malicious" software.

It is understood that the NHTCU investigation in cooperation with Israeli police is continuing.

A spokesman for NHTCU was today unavailable for comment.

Phillip Martin, of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe, confirmed that an investigation was under way but declined to discuss the matter further.

Sumitomo stressed it had not suffered any financial loss.

Sumitomo Corporation Europe is a subsidiary of the conglomerate Sumitomo Corporation, based in Japan and trades in goods, services and technology worldwide.

Rumours of the attempted theft have been circulating in the City following a warning to financial institutions.

Security experts have highlighted the dangers of keyloggers and other devices that can secretly gather information.

In one keylogging case - which is believed to be the first of its kind - a New York man pleaded guilty to installing software in computers at a chain of 13 shops in Manhattan, which enabled to him to collect computer usernames and passwords of 450 people.

Alan MacDonagh, managing director of fraud consultancy Hibis Europe, said the rise of keyloggers posed a major threat to companies.

He told the Financial Times: "This may be the first time we have evidence of organised criminals using the equipment to attack a bank."